The METROGreen Line (formerly called the Central Corridor) is an 11-mile (18 km)[3][4]light rail line that connects the central business districts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota as well as the University of Minnesota. An extension is being planned that would extend the line to the southwest connecting St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie. The line follows the path of former Metro Transit bus route 16 along University Avenue and Washington Avenue (which runs from downtown Minneapolis through the University of Minnesota main campus). It is the second light-rail line in the region, after the Blue Line, which opened in 2004 and connects Minneapolis with the southern suburb of Bloomington. Construction on the Green Line began in late 2010.[5] It opened to the public on June 14, 2014.[6] The travel time between the downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul stops is about 46 minutes.[4] This entire line operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.[7]

The Green Line's opening marked the return of rail to the University Avenue corridor. The original street car line was built in 1890. It was paved over in 1953. The old tracks remained beneath the center median pavement until 2012, when they were excavated and removed during construction of the new rail line.

In 1972, the Regional Fixed Guideway Study for the Metropolitan Transit Commission (the forerunner of today's Metro Transit) proposed a $1.3 billion 37- or 57-mile (sources differ) heavy-rail rapid transit system, but the then-separate Metropolitan Council disagreed with that idea – refusing to even look at the plan – and continuing political battles meant that it was never implemented. The Met Council had its own plans for bus rapid transit in the metropolitan region. Another system using smaller people movers was proposed in the 1975 Small Vehicle Fixed Guideway Study and gained the most traction with the Saint Paul city council, but was eventually dropped in 1980.

In the 1980s, light rail was proposed as an alternative and several possible corridors were identified, including the Central Corridor line which had a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) drawn up in 1982.[8][9][10] It took another two decades before the Blue Line light rail line began operation. It began service on June 26, 2004, just over 50 years since the last regular-service streetcar ran on June 19, 1954.

A 2003 study commissioned by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee placed the cost at US$840 million. Cost estimates placed the cost of the light rail line in 2003, at about US$957 million, with the increase primarily due to inflation over the following decade.[1]

On June 6, 2006, the light rail option was endorsed by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee.[11] The Metropolitan Council gave final approval to this decision on June 28, 2006.[12]

The existing Blue Line has exceeded ridership predictions, as is the case with many other light rail lines constructed in the U.S. during the last decade.[13][14] This led to some delays for the Central Corridor project because local transit officials were forced to retool ridership models before submitting projections to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Council, which operates Metro Transit, submitted numbers showing that a light rail line would carry 43,000 passengers daily by the year 2030. The FTA agreed that the line would be cost-effective at this level, a key requirement for obtaining federal funding.[15]

In April 2008, Governor Tim Pawlenty initially vetoed $70 million in funding for the Central Corridor project, along with other items, from the state budget. The funding was part of a state-local package of $227 million necessary to get federal transportation funds, and the future of the project was in doubt[16] until May 18, 2008, when a revised bonding bill including the $70 million for the Central Corridor was passed in the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.[17]

In August 2009 the Central Corridor project received a Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA found the project to have fully and accurately completed its environmental documentation with the publication of the Final Environmental Impact statement earlier in the summer, thus clearing the project for final design.[18]

The first construction began in late 2010, including work in downtown St. Paul and near the University of Minnesota campus.[5] By November 2011, construction was about 32% complete, including most heavy construction such as the installation of track segments, a new bridge, partial completion of stations, a rebuilt skyway in St. Paul and the construction of Green Line facilities at St. Paul Union Station.[19]

Due to scope of project, a venture was created by C.S. McCrossan and Ames to complete an area known as The Civil West Project. This area extended from the west side of the 35W abutment, over the Mississippi River, through the UofM campus, and ending at Bedford St. From Bedford to Saint Paul, Walsh Construction served as the general contractor.

In July 2011, the Metropolitan Council officially named the Central Corridor as the Green Line.[20]

As of August 2013, construction was completed and test trains began running over the St Paul line. The line connecting the two downtowns and the UofM opened on June 14, 2014.[6]

An interesting component of the Green Line project was the complexities in design layout. Land surveyors worked directly with over twelve subcontractors to complete the work. A particular area required exclusive attention and support, that being outside the University of Minnesota's biology department. Between Pleasant and Harvard streets there was 1/8" of tolerance between design and as-builds. Control factors used in the biology labs would be impacted by the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the nearby light rail. The 1/8" tolerance is said to cancel out any EMR that the light rail may produce.

Some in favor of the line have expressed concern with the number of stations.[21] The neighborhoods along University have demanded that the line have stations every half-mile, from Snelling to Rice Street, which would mean stations at Hamline Avenue, Victoria Street, and Western Avenue. In February 2008, the Central Corridor Management Committee passed a resolution to include below-ground infrastructure for the Hamline, Victoria and Western stations "with the understanding that, if the CEI increases or other dollars are made available by mid-summer 2008, the first claim on those dollars would be one of the infill stations."[22] The Metropolitan Council has included this infrastructure work in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement and has also committed to building one station if any funds become available.

As of 2009, the Federal Transit Administration has increased the Cost Effectiveness Index such that buildout of one station is now feasible.[23] On January 25, 2010, the FTA announced that the three "infill" stations will be built.[24] By December 2012, all three stations were almost complete.

Many businesses along the line were opposed to its development because of reduced access for automobiles.[25][21][26] Under the final plans, 87% of on-street parking disappeared along University Avenue between Raymond Avenue and Rice Street. At least one restaurant has cited light rail construction as a reason for closing.[27]

The corridor contains working-class residents and immigrant populations from Laos and Vietnam. Although the Green Line construction is mostly on an existing roadway and no land will be condemned, the disruption to existing transit and pedestrian ways was a concern to some groups. There is also concern that stops for light rail will be placed too far apart and along with reductions in bus service, transportation options for people will be reduced. Others are concerned about gentrification, where rising property values and taxes could force out lower-income residents.[28]

Others have opposed using Washington Avenue for a pedestrian transit mall and have opposed using the Washington Avenue bridge, citing traffic concerns, along with the age of the bridge, when other bridges upriver could be used to cross the Mississippi River: the 10th Avenue Bridge, the new I-35W bridge, or the Northern Pacific Bridge Number 9. This last option was preferred by the University of Minnesota, which feared traffic disruption and vibration at some of their research facilities from use of the Washington Avenue route.[29] In late summer 2008, preliminary engineering reports showed that mitigation work could negate the effects of vibrations on university laboratory equipment. The University of Minnesota renewed its objections over vibration concerns along Washington Avenue in late 2009. Negotiations between the Metropolitan Council and the university continued into early 2010. A compromise was reached between the University and the Metropolitan Council and the Washington Avenue bridge was selected for use. As of Summer 2011, work had begun on the Washington Avenue bridge.

In January 2009, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) raised concerns over the effects of the light-rail trains on their recording studios on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul. MPR presented the results of an engineering study which they sponsored that conflicted with that performed by the Metropolitan Council. A settlement between MPR and other involved parties will keep the light rail trains on Cedar Street and will also compensate MPR for the addition of sound-proof upgrades to their studios.[citation needed]

In July 2011, the Metropolitan Council officially announced that the Central Corridor will be known as the Green Line. Corresponding transit lines will include the Blue Line (existing Hiawatha LRT), the Orange Line (under-construction I-35W BRT) and the Red Line (existing Cedar Avenue BRT).[20]

The line is to be extended to Mitchell Road Station in Eden Prairie, Minnesota along the Green Line Extension (Southwest Transitway). The extension will add 17 additional stations and 12 miles of trackage to the line. Due to neighborhood opposition from the Kenwood neighborhood and additional studies on the environmental affects of the Southwest Corridor, the opening has been delayed to 2019. If approved by the city of Minneapolis, the Southwest Corridor would utilize the Kenilworth Rail Corridor and Cedar Lake Junction near downtown Minneapolis.

The Northstar Linecommuter rail line connects downtown Minneapolis with northwestern suburbs, with a station at the north/western terminus of the Blue and Green Lines. The two light rail lines share trackage through downtown.

The temporary eastern terminus of the Green Line will be a street level station in front of the Saint Paul Union Depot, considered one of the great architectural achievements in the city and formerly one of the main points of departure for area train riders up until passenger rail service in the United States was restructured in the 1960s and 1970s. Future plans call for extending the line down to the concourse level, and provisions have been made including building the maintenance shops on adjacent land. The concourse of the Union Depot would become a transfer point for people coming into St. Paul along the proposed Red Rock and Rush Line commuter rail lines. As of June 2014, Union Depot is a transit center for Metro Transit, Jefferson Lines, Megabus, Greyhound buses and Amtrak's Empire Builder.

Siemens Industry Incorporated built 47 S70 Light Rail Vehicles for the Green Line,[30] and another 12 for the Blue Line's three-car train expansion project, at a per-LRV cost of $3,297,714 and a total contract value of $194,565,126.[31] The 59 LRVs were built in Florin, California and the first vehicle was delivered on October 10, 2012.[32][33]

The Blue Line's original first-generation fleet of 27 Flexity Swift LRVs was built by Bombardier; the Siemens "type II" LRVs will be mechanically, but not electronically, compatible with the original fleet of 27 "type I" vehicles, so while the two generations are able to run on the tracks at the same time and either type is able to push a malfunctioning unit of the other type, multiple-unit trains are only assembled of one type.[34]

During testing of the Green line before it opened, there were four accidents recorded.[35] One accident was at Portland Avenue and 5th Street in Downtown Minneapolis. Notably, this intersection was previously in use by Blue Line and is now being shared by the Blue and Green Lines. The first death occurred in September 2014, when a woman was struck by a train as she attempted to cross the tracks at the Westgate Station.[36]